Monthly Archive for June, 2011

FINE FINE MUSIC is a collection of stories about the other side of rock and roll and coming of age in the land that time forgot. Lake Ronkonkoma is stuck in 1981, an alcoholic blackout of unnatually tan people waxing their Camaros to Foreigner on cassette and knowing the words to every Billy Joel song whether you want to or not. From an internship making Seamonkey costumes, a childhood fear of My Buddy dolls, and a heartbreaking crush on Aerosmith, funny lady Cassie J. Sneider delivers her tales of growing up in a land of fist-pumping Snookies with the antagonistic wit of a record store clerk.

Cassie J. Sneider grew up in the murky depths of Lake Ronkonkoma, New York, a town with a haunted lake, a trailer park, and a record store. She put 240,000 miles on a Toyota Echo doing readings all over the country. Cassie J. Sneider collects 8-tracks and new friends. You can catch her on the Sister Spit 2012 national tour. For more info: cassiejsneider.blogspot.com

Dave Roche is the zinester behind such titles as On Subbing and About My Disappearance. He is a Quimby’s favorite.

And now, one more name has been added! It’s Danny “Ratso” Rathbun, whowrites about openly and honestly about failed relationships, drugs and depression, but always with a wink and a smile. He runs a number of tongue and cheek columns like, ‘Drunken Letters to Abstract Concepts’, ‘Copyrighted Material Used Without Permission’, and ‘Punk rock trading cards’, that have drawn comparisons to Mad Magazine. Ratso’s work has been printed in over twenty different newspapers around Virginia, including The Virginia Gazette, The Williamsburg-Yorktown Daily, and others. He is a regular contributor to Grassroots magazine, and the Commonwealth Times. He publishes the zine Don’t Tread on Me, regularly performs standup comedy and gives readings across the state of Virginia, and is currently on a nationwide tour, doing readings across the country. For more info: dtmzine.blogspot.com

Announcement before the week’s bestsellers: the second episode of the official Quimby’s Bookstore Podcast is now up! It features an interview with the authors of The Beat Cop’s Guide to Chicago Eats, Sgt. David J. Haynes and blogger Christopher Garlington. You can find it on I-Tunes and also at quimbys.podbean.com. Don’t forget to subscribe wherever you listen to it so you can receive every episode.

Weekly Top 10

1. Black Eye #1 ed. by Ryan Standfest $14.95 – Black Eye is the comics magazine dedicated to ludicrous violence, unrelenting nihilism and gratuitous gross-out. Chicago heavy-hitters Paul Nudd, Lilli Carré, and Ivan Brunetti get super nasty and Onsmith’s totally tasteless contributions warranted a book seizure at the Canadian border. The scandal doesn’t end there either…Stéphane Blanquet, Jeet Heer, Al Columbia, Kaz, Michael Kupperman, Tom Neely and Brecht Evans are all at work causing some internal bleeding on this one. A real bad egg if you ask me. -EF …And thanks to everybody that came out for the signing for this anthology on this past Saturday!

2. Linework #2 Comics and Graphics Anthology Spr 11 $10.00

3. Burn Collector #15 by Al Burian (Microcosm) $3.00 – Al Burian takes on his new home town, Berlin with a little help from a Chicago All-Star team of Anne Elizabeth “Unmarketable” Moore and Liam “Secret Beach” Warfield.

Empty the Sun: A Novel by Joseph Mattson with Soundtrack by Six Organs of Admittance (Ben Chasny and Steve Ruecker) (Barnacle) $18.00 – Book with CD. Joseph Mattson writes like a guitar player with nineteen fingers — everywhere at once, stinging, dark and beautiful. Empty the Sun will take you to some strange places, but the trip is amazing. Mattson has written a truly inventive and vivid novel. -Jerry Stahl, author of Permanent Midnight

ZINES & ZINE-RELATED BOOKS!
Destroy All Monsters Magazine $30.00 – It was a zine! No, a band! A zine, a band! Both?! Tomato, tomahto, let’s call it an art collective and be done with the debate. Shake?
Bathing Salts by Keith G. Herzik $5.00 – Crazy screenprinting master Herzik leaves us another artifact from his lab.
South Side Chicago Anti Racist Action #2 May Day Edition $2.00
Amazing Women #3 by Devan Elyse Bennett $1.50
You Made Devotion A Virtue #1 An Epic Tale of Phil Spector Modern Day Bluebeard – American Nightmare is His Wet Dream by Devan Elyse Bennett $2.00
Everything Good and Beautiful by Bucket Siler and Frey Anya $5.00
God Save the Zine #5 and #6 by Harrison Rosenberg $3.00

ART & DESIGN BOOKS!
Back In the Days Remix 10th Anniversary Edition by Jamel Shabazz (PowerHouse) $35.00 – Reprint of this amazing photo collection of B-boys and girls.
Power to the Imagination Artists Posters and Politics by Jurgen Doring (U of Chicago) $29.95
I Should Be In Charge by Bob and Roberta Smith (Black Dog) $49.95
Medium Religion Faith Geopolitics Art ed. by Boris Groys and Peter Weidel $46.00 – Art that questions religion, machines that “analyze” the bible. A hefty, er, tomb.
Red Maze by Stanley Donwood $59.95 – Follows the red maze of curated ephemera. Like “The Shining,” but um, not a hedge maze. With art. In a red maze.
Paul Madonna Album 01 Paul Madonna $24.95 – Comics artist Paul Madonna came in on the sly to sign a few copies of his books while he was in town, and he brought an awesome oversized show catalog of sorts, featuring, among other things, the finger monster toys we sell here too.
Chicano Graffiti and Murals The Neighborhood Art of Peter Quezada by Sojin Kim $30.00

LITERARY JOURNALS, CHAP BOOKS & POETRY!
Through My Eyes: The Way I See Things and the Things I Saw by Eva Pilch $25.00
Always Messing With Them Boys Poems Jessica Helen Lopez $10.00
They Dont Make Memories Like That Anymore by Katrina K. Guarascio $10.00

MUSIC BOOKS OR BOOKS WRITTEN BY MUSIC PEOPLE!
Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries by Jon Kristiansen and Tara G. Warrior (Bazillion) $39.95 – Don’t miss Jon and Tara here at Quimby’s on July 8th, 7pm. The pair will recount some of the hilarious and the tragic episodes contained in the book, and discuss a dedication to self-publishing spawned from the darkest excesses of metal.
Visual Vitriol: The Street Art and Subcultures of The Punk and Hardcore Generation (UPM) $35.00 – Pretty awesome.

POLITICS & REVOLUTION!
Mayor Culpa: 1989-2011 Gone But Not Forgiven – The Unofficial Farewell Tribute to Mayor Richard M. Daley As Told Through His Long-Lost Campaign Memorabilia by Mark Weinberg $12.95 – Collection of Daley administration ephemera, hilarious yet telling satire Onion-style. The cover graphics of Daley looking like Mr. Burns is worth the cover price alone. From an art standpoint, the design of the book and the graphics are top notch. Small print run, independently published, and home-grown of course, here in the city with big shoulders. A must!
The People’s History of Poverty In America by Stephen Pimpare (New Press) $21.95

OTHER STUFF!
Embrace A Pregnancy Journal by Nikki McClure (Sasquatch) $16.95
Tree of Life Postcard Print by Mark Ryden $5.00 – WHAT?! Five BUCKS FOR A MARK RYDEN PRINT? Better get your paws on this soon before it flies outta here.
Onsmith/Paul Nudd Letterpress For Black Eye #1 Signing $15.00 – This was made exclusively for signings for the dark comics humor anthology Black Eye that was here last night, by sontributors Onsmith and Nudd, letterpress printed by local printer Rohner.
More Moleskine planners are here. Going into 2012 now!

Tastee records and The Earth Program present: Obbityfest 2011! Obbityfest is Chicago’s best DIY / Punk / Psychedelic festival featuring 21 local, national, and international acts, visual art, and a whole bunch of other goodies. July 1st, 2nd, and 3rd at The New Rock Theatre 3393 N. Elston Ave, Only $5! Visit Obbityfest.webs.com for more information or find them on facebook.